Glenn Maxwell is Australia’s best T20 international cricketer, while spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa are now more valuable than superstars David Warner, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
With the T20 World Cup just six months away, I’ve ranked Australia’s top ten players in this international format.
1. Glenn Maxwell
Batting average 32, strike rate 159, bowling average 26, economy 7.5
Maxwell is the most irreplaceable T20 cricketer in Australia. While the Aussies have a host of players who are well suited to batting in the top three, the Victorian is the only batsman who’s proven he can run amok batting between four and six whether facing pace or spin. In fact there are very few middle-order T20 batsmen in world cricket who can score at a roaring rate from ball one like Maxwell. Add in his brilliant fielding and underrated bowling and you have a rolled-gold T20 cricketer.
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
2. Aaron Finch
Batting average 38, strike rate 152
The Australian captain is bizarrely undervalued by many Aussie fans. Finch is in the top three T20I batsmen of all time. Only Indian superstar Virat Kohli has categorically had a better international T20 career than the Victorian. Among the top 20 runscorers in T20 history Finch is the only player to average more than 35 at a strike rate above 140. His recent form is excellent too, averaging 40 at a strike rate of 143 in his last 20 matches.
3. Ashton Agar
Bowling average 19, economy 6.9
If you follow international T20 cricket closely, Agar’s lofty ranking here shouldn’t come as a surprise. The left-arm spinner has been consistently outstanding for Australia for two years now. That’s why he’s the world’s No. 3 ranked T20 bowler. Agar isn’t just a fantastic defensive bowler, choking the opposition run rate, but also an increasingly potent spinner, averaging 1.2 wickets per match. Agar has also shown great versatility and is capable of taking the new ball, controlling the middle overs and even doing a job at the death.
(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
4. Adam Zampa
Bowling average 22, economy 6.9
Quality wrist spinners are perhaps the most prized commodity in the shortest format. Aside from Rashid Khan, there is arguably no better T20 wrist spinner than Zampa. T20 is by far his best format, favouring his style of quick, skiddy leggies and wrong ‘uns. Zampa has been fantastic in Asia, averaging 20 at a miserly economy rate of just 6.0 runs an over, making him a potential weapon for Australia at this year’s World Cup.
5. David Warner
Batting average 31, strike rate 140
Despite long being a franchise cricket gun, it took a surprisingly long time for Warner to hit his peak as an international T20 cricketer. Since returning from his 12-month ban for ball-tampering the left-hander has been rampant for Australia in this format. He’s crunched 473 runs at 95 with a strike rate of 138, and he looks primed for a massive World Cup this year.
6. Pat Cummins
Bowling average 21, economy 6.9
Cummins’s heavy exposure to the world’s best T20 batsmen during the Indian Premier League has clearly fast-tracked his development as a white-ball bowler. He’s always been dangerous with the new ball, but his most obvious improvement has been as a death bowler. Cummins is now an excellent late-innings option for Australia.
7. Mitchell Starc
Bowling average 19, economy 6.9
Starc might have been at No. 1 on this list if he played T20 cricket more often. Five years ago he was the most valuable T20 fast bowler on the planet thanks to his ability to dismiss elite batsmen with the new ball and also shine at the death. But since early 2016 Starc has played only 15 matches in this format, including all international and franchise appearances. Starc’s career T20 record of 144 wickets at 17 is absurdly good. Whether he still has it in him to dominate a major tournament we’ll find out later this year in India.
8. Steve Smith
Batting average 27, strike rate 129
Like Warner, Smith has been in prime touch in white-ball cricket since serving his ball-tampering ban. In 15 T20s for Australia over that period Smith has averaged 40 at a strike rate of 140. Surrounded by ferocious hitters in Finch, Warner and Maxwell, Smith is perfectly suited to anchoring Australia’s T20 innings from first drop. Expect him to fire up for this year’s T20 World Cup as he seeks to prove his worth in the shortest format.
9. Kane Richardson
Bowling average 24, economy 7.9
When Richardson first began playing for Australia I couldn’t work out how he was getting a game. He was an innocuous bowler who I thought would be out of his depth at the international level. In the past two years, however, Richardson has etched a place for himself in a very strong Australian attack by being consistent and offering a point of difference. His mix of inswingers, cutters, slower balls, and off-pace bouncers make him hard for batsmen to line up, particularly at the death, which is when he’s at his best.
10. Nobody
After the above nine players, no other Australian has been consistently effective in T20s in recent years. The likes of Marcus Stoinis, Matt Wade, Alex Carey, and D’Arcy Short have all had generous opportunities in that time and have been disappointing.
Ben Palliyaguru
Roar Rookie
moises henriques??
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Terrific stuff, I love this time in history where grandiose statements replace facts. You know, like ‘Maxwell is a team first player due to evidence and testimony’! Hilarious, love to hear the evidence to back that up someday and I could potentially be more interested in your obtuse utterings, but I’m heading elsewhere on Roar to read about how Richmond were dissected last night because the spark they needed was sitting on the bench!
Peter Warrington
Guest
potentially i could have been clearer. the strange set of bedfellow in my post are the people who suggest that Maxwell, despite all evidence and testimony, is not a team-first player. on the other point, I think my comments are a bit seasonal. no cricket action anywhere else and it's footy season. but i'll get bored soon and leave. Maybe now, actually. No fat rich man's pony can ever overtake you And there's not a rider from the east to the west Could hold you a light in this dark mist and midnight When the potbellied thieves chase their unwelcome guest
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Even as a 'guest', you are part of that strange set as your regularity of comments demonstrate. That's my inference of your opinion, anyway.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
His long terms record was 40 at 150 so he has declined in strike rate. Those T20 matches played over about 2 years , whereas IPL+Big Bash would be about 30 matches in the last six months . Most matches played in Australia and his recent record in India is poor.
Peter Warrington
Guest
sorry, it was a bit of both. i had to use my powers of inference to confirm your opinion. which you hold strongly, as is your right. which you share with a strange set of bedfellows. but that's never stopped me in the past. go Tiges!
JamesH
Roar Guru
I like what he and Inglis did this BBL but I don't think the WC is an appropriate time for a debutant. At least Philippe has now had a taste of international cricket. To me that's a non-negotiable going into a tournament.
JamesH
Roar Guru
It's not about development. It's simply a question of who is the best option, and right now Philippe is probably it. The question for me is whether we're better off keeping him in a familiar sport at the top and relying on Warner or Finch to be a bit adaptable - which I don't think is much of an ask for two such experienced players - or whether we take a punt and bat Josh at 6. I can't fathom putting Carey into the middle order, especially with Stoinis there too. After 18 T20I innings he averages 12.57 at a strike rate of 116.55, and he's not even a natural finisher in domestic T20 cricket. He did well at the WC because he had time to build into his innings. T20 doesn't allow that unless you're top 3. Wade or McDermott would arguably be a better option than Carey at this point, although again they aren't proven down the order at domestic level. I really wish we'd used Finch at 3 or 5 in NZ when we had the chance, given that he worked well at 5 a few years ago. Now we basically have to go into the WC guessing.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
It’s not an inference, it’s an opinion, on an opinion site.
Peter Warrington
Guest
Broad. Astbury. Prestia. Love them. The inference that Maxwell is not a team player? Go you.
Brian
Guest
Its too late for development. The top 4 of Finch, Warner, Smith & Maxi have to be the top 4 because they are the best batter's. At this stage its about limiting liability with this issue and whoever can bat at 6 and keep - probably Carey given how well he did at the ODI World Cup. That still leaves No 5 for the next best batsman be it Stoinis or maybe Labuschagne. Is either Labuschagne or Green in any of the Hundred squads because we really need another batsman to bat at No 5. Stoinis maybe - I really hope they forget both Wade & Short
Phil
Guest
Peirson would be well down the order. Phillipe, Carey, Inglis, Wade and McDermott are probably all ahead of him. His BBL was solid, but a career T20 strike rate of 122 is not good enough for someone batting at the back end of an innings. Maybe if be backs up last years tournament and takes his batting forward again. But not at the moment.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Interested whether Jimmy Peirson season in the Big Bash gives him any fans. Was very tidy with the gloves and made really important runs for the Heat when under the pump. The fact no keepers have really made huge impacts for me would be a reason to try something a little bit different. Criminally underrated.
redbackfan
Roar Rookie
while most of the "failures"(my word) you have mentioned have also had unsuccesful cracks in the top order, that there are only 4 batsman in the top 10 seems right. im not sure any batsman anywhere seems consistently able to succeed lower down (altough abdv does ok at 5, but he is no ordinary batsman) maxwell doing well in the ipl this year batting in the top 4, im not sure where he was the last few years, lower i think, which may account for his improvement this year. happy to be proven wrong by statisticians
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Not into premiership winning team players?
Peter Warrington
Guest
it's all very well, almost enough to have him ranked 8 among the batters and 3rd among the allrounders. your consistent search for his consistency is something i can rely on.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I think the issue with the keeper is that they haven't stuck with one. Carey got tried for a while, McDermott had a couple of goes, then Handscomb, Wade and Philippe (albeit Philippe didn't actually keep). I hope Philippe will get first crack at the keeping spot in the World Cup. He showed a bit with the bat in NZ and I think the selectors will fancy him over Wade, McDermott or Carey. The question is whether or not they let him stay at the top and bat Finch or Warner at 3, or push him down to a more unfamiliar position at 6. Hopefully the former.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Exactly. He hasn’t been good in the IPL for a while now, but at the same time he’s been killing it internationally. Until the current edition you could have said the same about Maxy.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Sure, there have been fast bowlers who's careers have ended in their early 30's but plenty of others who've gone well into the mid-30's or even later. But the point being if age is the issue then it generally results in either frequent injuries or pace starts to drop off or things like that. But those don't appear to be the issue at all. So no reason age should be anything to do with it for him.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Sorry, Paul. I understand Ronan set up the criteria as International record, but could quite easily have added a 10th player, but was trying to make a point. My point is Christian hasn't been given the option to prove his T20I bonafides despite his unparalleled winning record in the tier that internationals are chosen from. Maxwell has a better International record because he gets picked. I'm merely saying Christian is better than a blank space. My mistake on the number one International T20 player, apologies. I believe he's Australia's best performed and therefore number one T20 player ahead of Maxwell.